


Half of my heart.

by IoccasionallyWriteStories



Category: Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Race totally gave Albert one of those bff necklaces, Some crackish elements in the beginning, bff’s to lovers, it’s cute, this fic is based on that idea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-14 17:24:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16496960
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IoccasionallyWriteStories/pseuds/IoccasionallyWriteStories
Summary: Twelve year old Anthonio 'Racetrack' Higgins had probably been more of a stereotypical twelve year old white girl than any twelve year old girl could be. Albert had witnessed Race put his and his crush's name in a love calculator app to see how compatible they were, had seen him draw the pointy/cool S on school papers instead of using a normal S (when he thought about it, he remembered that Race used as much words with an S in it as he could at that time). He had watched twelve year old Race rolling down the hallways in heelys , leggings and an oversized shirt while obnoxiously slurping orange juice from a juice box. When winter came around and it got colder, Race busted out his uggs and gagnam styled until he was feeling warm and cosy again. (Albert may have participated in that too, because it had been a pretty damn cold winter and dancing got you warm okay?) The only thing that Race never got into (thank god for that), were horse movies.





	Half of my heart.

Twelve year old Anthonio 'Racetrack' Higgins had probably been more of a stereotypical twelve year old white girl than any twelve year old girl could be. Albert had witnessed Race put his and his crush's name in a love calculator app to see how compatible they were, had seen him draw the pointy/cool S on school papers instead of using a normal S (when he thought about it, he remembered that Race used as much words with an S in it as he could at that time). He had watched twelve year old Race rolling down the hallways in heelys , leggings and an oversized shirt while obnoxiously slurping orange juice from a juice box. When winter came around and it got colder, Race busted out his uggs and gagnam styled until he was feeling warm and cosy again. (Albert may have participated in that too, because it had been a pretty damn cold winter and dancing got you warm okay?) The only thing that Race never got into (thank god for that), were horse movies. 

Usually Race's weird habits had no lasting effects on Albert, except for two times. The first case of Race doing something that wouldn't leave Albert's mind, was him entering both of their names into one of those stupid love calculator apps. The damned app had concluded that they were 90% compatible and Race had smiled up at Albert, telling him it was natural that they had such a high compatibility. They were best friends after all. That night Albert had found himself awake at three am, wondering why the high rate had made his cheeks flush as red as his hair and why the best friends comment had upped his heartbeat and downed his mood at the same time.

Case two of 'Race leaves a mark on Albert' had to be taken a bit more literally. On Valentine's Day, twelve year old Race had announced that they should have an anniversary date for their friendship. Because neither of them remembered when exactly they had met each other, Race decided that the fourteenth of February would be their friendship anniversary from then on. Albert had raised a brow at that and wanted to tell Race that that date was reserved for gross couples doing gross kissy stuff. 

Dramatically sighing, Race had grabbed his shoulders and looked into his eyes. "Don't you get it Albie? What's Valentine's day known for?" Not knowing what Race wanted to hear, Albert had uncertainly answered with: "Couples kissing?" Race had rolled his eyes at that. "No silly, Valentine's day is known for its chocolate. We can get each other cheap and heart shaped chocolate! Oh and Valentine is also known for love I guess and I love you for sure." The sentence had sounded totally casual, but it still had left Albert speechless. "By the way, I already got you a present for this years anniversary so we can't change it anymore."

Albert angled his head to see what Race was getting out of the back pocket of his jeggings. He heard Race mutter a "shit" and try to subtly put the price tag back in his pocket. (It was a nice attempt, but Albert didn't let the '50% discount' sticker go unnoticed.) With grandeur Race had presented him one half of a heart shaped bff necklace.

The thing was hideous and cheap. The top was blue and the bottom pink and some of the rhinestones were missing. But the thing was, Race had looked so happy when he clasped the necklace around Albert's neck that he had decided to never take it off. He and Race had even sworn to never take it off till the inevitable happened and the necklaces broke because of their dollar store cheapness.

-

They were now four years older and both of them had stayed true to their word. Naturally, people had noticed their necklaces over the years, but they had rebuffed those comments with jokes, dramatic hugs and over the top exclamations of (platonic) love. Even though both of them claimed it was just a silly joke between the two of them, Albert often found himself softly stroking the heart that Race had given him when he felt out of it. He knew that Race also sought comfort in his part of it sometimes. But instead of stroking it, he put it into his mouth. Gross.

When their group of friends grew and Jack jokingly suggested that they all should get matching necklaces, Race had thrown a hissy fit. He had gasped at the suggestion, flung himself in Albert's lap and thrown his arms around his shoulders. Then he had moved one arm from Albert's shoulder to his hair, playing with a few strands of red while looking him in the eyes. Albert had been unable to look away as Race tucked his hair behind his ear and let his hand softly glide over his cheek. With his other hand, Race flipped Jack off and told him the following: "Bold of you to assume you're anywhere near Al's level, bitch. He's my special guy. (At 'special guy' Race dragged his pointer finger down from Albert's cheek to his chest. The sensation of Race's finger travelling over his neck and chest sent shivers down his spine.) You'll have to work hard to earn yourself a true Higgins token of friendship." 

David, an innocent soul and new to the group, frowned at that. "Huh. I could've sworn that my sister got the same necklace from the dollar tree." Immediately Race got out of Albert's lap and chased David around while screeching like a banshee. The poor guy's head was probably spinning. Albert wondered how long it would be before David saved himself from this gang of unruly teenagers and left.

-

Two months later (David had surprisingly not left the group. Albert suspected that it had something to do with the 'Please don't leave us, mom!' party they had thrown for him. He had been horribly confused, but there was also resignation in his posture. He had been appointed as the official mom-friend and he knew there was nothing he could do about it. There was no escaping them now.) something awful happened.

As Albert stepped out of the shower, his neck suddenly felt lighter and a few seconds later, he heard his necklace colliding with the ground. Hoping that it was still salvageable, he went on his knees and immediately, that hope flew out of the window. The iron string was snapped in half and the impact of the fall had made nearly all of the rhinestones spill out. When he noticed the tears prickling in the corners of his eyes, he wanted to slap himself. Look at him, sitting on his bathroom floor, crying over the remnants of a bff necklace his best friend had given him when they were both twelve. 

He FaceTimed Race, because he was a stupid fuck. Well, he actually called Race because Race was his dearest friend and could always cheer him up. Anyway, after Albert told his story, Race couldn't help but giggle a bit. "Seriously Al? You fucking hated that thing, you should've seen your face when I gave it to you." 

"It grew on me", he protested and Race laughed at that. Then Race gave him a weird look and squinted. "Albert?"   
"No, this is Patrick", he deadpanned and Race's reaction was something between a laugh and a groan. "No but seriously dude. Are you by any chance..." Race trailed off, leaving Albert in the dark about what he wanted to ask. Not straight? Into boys? Hella gay? Hella gay for Race, his best friend since forever? The thought of Race simply knowing was too scary, because he didn't know what Race would think at all and that was something completely new to him. The thought of not knowing something about the person closest to him was alien and unwelcome. 

"Naked?"

"Huh?" When Albert looked down, he noticed that Race was right. "Oh yeah, forgot to put on clothes." Race snorted and shook his head. "Just get dressed man. Our anniversary is coming up anyway, I'll get you a new one." Groaning, he shook his phone to make Race dizzy and to strengthen his point. "No, you've told me what I'm going to get and now it isn't special anymore." It had always been an unspoken rule to keep their presents secret from each other and breaking that rule was no fun. "I'll make it special", Race promised and Albert agreed with a huff. "I guess that's fine." 

"DaSilva, I will come over and personally smack you." 

"While I'm naked? We're getting a bit suggestive here Higgins."

Race brought his phone close to his face, making only his eyes visible. After he whispered "Then perish", he hung up.

-

It was Monday and Valentine erhm, their friendship anniversary date was inching closer and Albert had no idea what to give to Race. Past presents included: a chocolate heart with a sexy Gru from despicable me on it, bean boozled jelly beans without all the tasty flavours and a hand drawn card with Smeagol on it. While handing the last one to Race, he had hissed 'my preciousss' with his best Smeagol voice and Race had been kind of impressed. As he mused about it, he ran into Davey, who was carrying a clipboard and a pen.

The urge to run overwhelmed Albert, but his legs didn't seem to work as his friend approached him. The thing was, normal Davey did not look very impressive at all. But give the guy a clipboard and suddenly he transformed from lanky, awkward bookworm to lanky and sort of menacing pollster who would not take no for an answer. "Hey Albert, look what Katherine and I managed to do!" 

Relieved that he didn't need to fill out any surveys, Albert looked at the clipboard that Davey had pushed into his hands. Scrawled in a messy handwriting was: #Yay4TheGay on the top of the page. The rest of the pamphlet informed the students that Valentine's Day would be lgbt+ inclusive from now on. "Dude, how did you manage that? I thought old man Pulitzer hated people like us."

"We held the student council hostage to speech about lgbt+ rights for a good five hours. Jack wanted to join us but they didn't allow him in because he isn't in the student council, which is a stupid rule to be honest." 

Albert whistled at that. "Five hours? Damn, that's two and a half hours each. How do you people even come up with that much words?"

A broken laugh stumbled out of Davey's mouth at that statement and it was at that moment that Albert noticed the dark bags under his eyes. "It wasn't five hours in total, Albert. It was five hours each. I think that Kath was prepared to go for another five, but they stopped her and gave in. I fear her now."

Albert gave Davey a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "At least us gays are free now." Race, who had just joined them, spat out his cheese and yoghurt sandwich. "Since when are you gay?" he asked incredulously. Davey looked between the two of them with questions clear in his eyes. Then he shook his head and left with a: "I'm too tired for this shit."

Albert had difficulties with meeting Race's eyes. On instinct, his hands flew grasped for the necklace that was usually around his neck. "And why didn't you tell me? I thought that we trusted each other by now." Without further ado, Albert gripped Race by the collar and dragged him towards a solitary place.

"It stinks in here", Race commented, sitting cross-legged on the toilet while Albert leaned against the closed door. When he got no answer, he stretched out his leg and tapped Albert with it. "Hey talk to me man."

"I'm gay", Albert forced and Race gave him a thumbs up. "That's cool bud." An awkward silence followed until their eyes crossed and they both started giggling. "That's cool bud? Race, you're so fucking-" Albert gasped for breath as he mimicked Race's face and his thumbs up. "God, you are stupid", he said and Race gave him an indignant 'Hey!' in return.

When they calmed down, Race asked him how and when he knew that he was gay. "It's just a lot of small things? Like I know when girls are pretty, but I'm never attracted to them? I can't even imagine what having a crush on girl feels like. Also guys are hella fucking hot." Race hummed at that and Albert wanted to know if it was humming in agreement or just Race acknowledging that he had heard him.

"Al...You know that you can tell me anything right?" Albert slid down the door and ran his hand through his hair. "Yeah I know, but...It's kind of hard? I guess? I mean, it's easier to tell other people because their opinions don't matter that much to me. I could tell our whole class without a problem, but telling you is scary." He felt tears coming up and hid his face with his arms. "You have been forming an image of me for around sixteen years already and I don't want one thing to completely change your way of viewing me." Immediately, Race got up and knelt in front of him. "Al, look at me." He gently pried Albert's hands from his face and hugged his friend. Albert buried his head in the crook of Race's neck and cried while the other boy rubbed his back. 

After a while, the sobs died down and Albert moved back. "Here you go", Race said as he handed him a roll of toilet paper to dry his face with. "Want to go back to class?" As Albert pulled a face, Race laughed. "Skipping it is then."

-

Five days later Race climbed through Albert's window at three in the morning, yelled "I discovered that I'm gay too!" and left without further explanation.

-

It was the day of their friendship anniversary and Albert had sort of found a gift (he also had a backup gift in case his initial plan backfired). He stood in front of his mirror and checked out the suit he had hired for today. The deep navy colour of the blazer went well with the flowers that were embroidered on it, as well as with the white button up underneath. He decided to go the extra mile and slicked his hair back in the same way his mom forced him to do for fancy family parties. After putting on the bow tie (even that thing had tiny flowers on it), he set off to school.

-

The first thing he did when he arrived, was search Race. He knew that if he delayed this any longer, he would be too nervous to do it later. "Damn DaSilva, looking good today!" Ah, there he was. "It's my present for you!" he yelled back. Race furrowed his brows in confusion. "You got me a suit?" Swallowing the lump in his throat, he shook his head. "You think I'm able to buy you a suit? Hell no. I got you this instead." He waved awkwardly over his own body and hoped that Race caught on. "Be my boyfriend? Please? Or not, no pressure." 

"You son of a bitch", Race spat and for a moment Albert feared that he had made his best friend mad. Then Race opened his palm and revealed a heart necklace. One half said 'boyf' and the other 'riends'. "No offense, but why is boyfriends split like that? Isn't 'boy' and 'friends' more logical?" Race shrugged sheepishly. "I had Romeo order it on Etsy because I had to go to dance class, so it's his fault. I think it's a reference to one of his recent obsessions, but at this point I'm too tired to keep track of the things he likes. But yeah, boyfriends?" Albert eagerly threw his arms around Race and pulled him close. "Fuck yeah, boyfriends."

-

Bonus:

It was a sunny day in March and twenty-six year old Albert woke up because of the smell of breakfast wafting from Race and his' kitchen. He padded through the apartment that he and Race had been sharing for two years. "Morning, blond twink", he yawned and hugged his boyfriend from behind. "Hello to you too, ginger bitch", Race smiled fondly and leaned into the hug.

"What's for breakfast?" "Rusty spoons, salad fingers, raw eggs and the truth." Albert snorted. "Sounds delicious."

As he watched Race cook and clung to him like a koala bear, Albert's sleep riddled mind managed to remember something. He pressed a slow kiss in Race's neck, who shivered and pressed closer in return. After another quick peck on his boyfriends neck, he let go of Race and trailed back to the bedroom.

"Babe, what are you doing? You just got out of bed." Albert gave him a grunt in response and Race snorted and went back to breakfast. Those rusted spoons were really coming along nicely. Albert re-entered the kitchen again, grabbed a plastic plate from their kitchen cabinet and vanished into the bedroom once more. "Al, are you alright? You're doing strange things right now, buddy." Race got no answer, except for the sound of Albert digging through his drawers. He wanted to go look, but decided against it. The truth could overboil if he left it on the stove for too long.

A few minutes later, Albert ran into the kitchen again, slid a few metres on one knee and stopped right at Race's feet. On his head he balanced the plastic plate he had grabbed earlier and on it was a box of rainbow nerds. In total confusion, Race took the box of rainbow nerds and the plate of Albert's head. "Thanks?" 

Albert rolled his eyes. "Open the box of nerds, you nerd." 

Race peered into the box and pulled out two necklaces. One half said 'husb' and the other one 'ands'. When he looked back at Albert, he was still on one knee and in his hand was a box with two wedding bands. Before he could even ask the question, Race knelt down next to him and kissed him deeply. "Fuck yes."

**Author's Note:**

> Hit me up on tumblr (rivertellsstories) if you want.


End file.
